Toews a Chicago great at ripe old age of 25

Leader of two Cup runs, captain is an uncommon winner Blackhawks, city are lucky to have

September 30, 2013|Steve Rosenbloom

Jonathan Toews has had an impressive level of success by the age of 25. (Scott Strazzante/Tribune photo)

If you value championships and a player's contributions to them, then you could make a case that Jonathan Toews is the most accomplished Chicago player by age 25 in decades and maybe ever.

Even more accomplished than Michael Jordan.

Again, I'm talking age and valuing a player's role in championships above everything else.

Jordan didn't win his first title until he was 27 when he was in his seventh season. Toews will help raise his second banner in six seasons in the United Center when the team he captains opens the season Tuesday night.

I'm not trying to start a Toews-Jordan argument here. Jordan won his first MVP when he was 24 and his second when he was 27. Toews doesn't have a Hart Trophy on his growing mantel yet. Jordan won seven straight scoring titles through 1992-93, and if you count full seasons, he won 10 in a row. Toews is looking for his first Art Ross Trophy.

So, if it ever becomes a reasonable argument, it won't be for a while. Instead, I'm just trying to offer some perspective on one of the best players-leaders-stars this city has seen in a long time.

In six NHL seasons, Toews has become captain of the Hawks, led the team to two Stanley Cups, earned one Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, captured one Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward, won an Olympic gold medal playing for Canada amid the asphyxiating pressure of doing it in Canada, and was named Most Outstanding Forward of those Games.

Toews centers the Hawks' top line. He usually starts the power play and has been on the first penalty-killing unit. He plays in all critical situations. He can skate, pass and score, and he remains one of the NHL's top faceoff men. The faceoff is the first battle, and Toews wins it more than almost everybody. Toews is all about winning.

There are countless examples of Toews' greatness under pressure, and two jump to mind immediately, both from Game 6 of the Cup clincher in Boston.

As the Bruins seemed to be pummeling the Hawks into a Game 7, Toews grabbed a puck while short-handed and moved down the wing before beating Tuukka Rask to tie the score at 1. A captain doing what captains do when someone absolutely has to do something.

Later, of course, Toews was central in creating one of those two famous goals you might've heard about. Just before David Krejci cleared the puck along the left boards with the Bruins up 2-1 in the final 90 seconds, Toews deftly lifted his stick as the Hawks pulled goalie Corey Crawford for an extra skater.

The puck chipped back to Patrick Kane, who, before getting cross-checked, pushed the puck up to Duncan Keith at the hash marks. Keith saucered a pass to Toews, who had peeled toward the net. Gathering the puck, Toews calmly flicked a perfect pass to the far post, where Bryan Bickell banged in the tying marker with 76 seconds remaining in regulation.

Seventeen seconds later, Dave Bolland happened. Fifty-nine seconds after that, Toews' team had won its second Cup in four seasons.

Toews is smooth and strong, elegance and force, in open ice and high-traffic areas. He's not flashy the way Kane so often is, but Toews certainly has pulled off some gasp-inducing moves.

Toews' game and leadership are mindful of a couple other 19s: Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic. They took the captain's responsibility young and grew into Hall of Fame leaders and winners. Toews is headed there, as coach Joel Quenneville noted recently.

Of the 10 players that hockey-reference.com lists as most similar to Toews for his career, eight are in the Hall of Fame. One of the two who hasn't been inducted is Rick Martin, a phenomenally talented winger who gained fame on the Sabres' "French Connection'' line. The other is that kid from Buffalo named Kane.

Good company, eh?

Hockey players reach the pros younger than players in other team sports, coming out of junior at 17 or 18, so, they have a better chance to accomplish a lot by the time they're 25.

Mario Lemieux won his first Cup at that age, but he required seven seasons. Wayne Gretzky played one season in the defunct World Hockey Association and won his first Cup in his sixth pro season, his fifth in the NHL.

Again, I'm not trying to argue Toews-Lemieux-Gretzky anymore than I'm arguing Toews-Jordan, although the comparisons might be more interesting than you would've imagined. I just wanted to offer an appreciation of excellence, and I'll leave it at this: The Hawks are lucky to have him and we're lucky to watch him.